Rensselaer director of athletics Jim Knowlton has announced the hiring of Cord Farmer as the head women’s soccer coach.

“I am thrilled to be named the head women’s coach at Rensselaer,” said Farmer. “I thank Jim for the opportunity to work at one of the most prestigious institutions in the nation and I am really looking forward to working with RPI’s tremendous student-athletes.”

Farmer, a native of Old Forge, N.Y., spent the last year as an assistant coach with the University of Wisconsin’s women’s soccer team. He was the head coach of the University of Pittsburgh-Bradford men’s team in the fall of 2006 before departing to join the Badgers’ staff.

“I am extremely excited to have Cord join our team,” said Knowlton. “He is someone with outstanding experience on the field and tremendous recruiting connections throughout the nation. He has high character and has achieved success consistently throughout his career.”

Farmer, who started at Rensselaer on May 22, led Pitt-Bradford to a 7-8-2 mark and was named the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Coach of the Year for his efforts in 2006. As head coach, he led the Panthers to the AMCC playoffs for the first time in 30 years.

Prior to arriving at Pitt-Bradford, Farmer was an assistant coach for the Ithaca College men’s team while also heading up the TC United Soccer Club of Ithaca. He helped lead the Ithaca Bombers to a 12-3-2 record in 2004 and a 12-3-1 record in 2005, nabbing two Empire 8 championships.

Farmer spent the 2003 and 2002 seasons as the assistant women’s coach at Penn State, helping the Nittany Lions to two 19-win seasons (38-6-4 overall) and appearances in the 2003 NCAA Final Eight and 2002 Final Four.

Farmer, who played college soccer at Clarkson University, serves as owner/director/coach of the Central Adirondack Soccer School in Old Forge, which began in 2002. He earned his bachelor’s degree in sport management from Flagler College (Fla.) in 2003, and is just six credits shy of his master’s degree in sports psychology from Ithaca.